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Arvada woman charged with theft from PTO

Posted
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 2:34 pm

Tafoya

Staff report

Jessica Kristina Tafoya, 36, has been charged with theft of funds from the Jefferson Academy Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). The Jefferson Academy is a K-12 charter school located in northern unincorporated Jefferson County. Tafoya, who lives in Arvada, served as treasurer of the organization between 2015 and 2017.

In November 2017 new officers of the PTO contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office with concerns over discrepancies in their financial records during the period when Tafoya was treasurer. According to the arrest affidavit, Tafoya stole or misappropriated over $58,000 from the PTO.

Tafoya was the only authorized user on the PTO bank accounts and she had been given a debit card on the accounts. There were unauthorized ATM withdrawals, underpaid invoices and transactions between the PTO's accounts and her personal accounts.

Tafoya has been charged with one count of theft between $20,000 and $100,000, a class four felony.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of Tafoya on Dec. 28. She turned herself in on Jan. 4 and posted $2,000 bond.

In a statement to the public the Jefferson PTO apologized to the public for the breach of trust. The organization said it hoped to recoup the stolen money eventually, and had taken several steps, including eliminating Debit and ATM access to the organization's accounts, and requiring multiple board members have financial oversight over incoming funds and current balance information.

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